What Might Have Been
by lil-hermione-at-heart
Summary: **What Might Have Been by Lonestar** What might have been? That's all that goes through people's heads these days. Follow along to see where said thoughts will lead. * *Sequel to "Could Have Been Me"* *


Chapter One- What Might Have Been

A raven-haired man limped down the main street of Hogsmeade, the snow crunching beneath his feet. He had his hands shoved into his pockets, head bowed, and walked quite quickly.

Students were dashing up and down the streets around him.

"_Hogsmeade weekend, obviously," _he thought to himself as he snuck down an alley and, once out of sight, Apparated away.

He reappeared on a side street of Diagon Alley. He pulled the hood of his black hoodie over his head and stepped into the busy main road.

"_Agency, agency. Ah! Real Estate Agency," _he thought to himself as she searched the signs and ducked into the one that said 'Real Estate Agency'.

He stepped up to the empty desk and took a seat. He waited for a few minutes until someone came into the front room.

"Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't know anyone was here," the tiny woman said.

"It's no problem," the man said, keeping his head bowed a bit.

"Alright. So," she said, sitting down in front of him, "what can I do you for?"

"I need a flat," he stated simply.

"Well, that's obvious, but where?" she said, sounding a bit cocky.

"Uh, I don't know. You have a map?" he asked.

"Yep." She slapped a map down in front of him.

He looked it over and saw a small town between two of his favorite places.

He muttered something quietly to himself.

"Excuse me?" the woman asked.

"Oh, nothing, I'll take one here please," he said, pointing to the town.

"Alright," she said, taking the map and folding it up, putting it away and pulling out another folder.

"Ok, one story or two stories?" she asked.

"One," he answered.

"Three or five bedrooms?"

"Three."

"Neighbors?"

"Sure."

"Ok, got down to two. One is on a main street, kinda a partying area, and the other is kinda a new one. It's in one of those Muggle apartment buildings that they have," she said, looking through the papers and laying out 2 sheets in front of him.

"I'll take the newer one; no partying is something I want to be around," he said, grinning to himself.

"Alright, I need your name and birth date," she said, grabbing the stack of papers that went with the one he picked.

"Uh," he said.

"_Crap, didn't think about this!" _he thought while mentally kicking himself.

"Evans, Rhialight Evans. Birth date is July 31st," he said quietly.

"Ok, just sign here and the flat is yours," she said, pointing to a dotted line.

"Really? That easy?" he asked.

"Really," she responded.

He signed it quickly and she tossed him a card with an address. He caught it flawlessly, thanked her, and Apparated away.

He reappeared again in a side alley. He stepped out and walked into a gate. Stepping back with his hand on his head, wincing, he looked up at the gate he just ran into. It was a tall black gate that surrounded tall apartment buildings. He turned around and saw a small black box with a red button and holes.

He looked at it awkwardly, trying to figure out what it was. Suddenly, a voice came out of it.

"Can I help you?" said a really bright and perky voice, but with a hint of boredom to it.

"Oh um, can you hear me?" he asked the little box.

"Yes, I can see you too," she said, and he could tell from the way she held back the giggle that she was smiling.

He shook his head at his stupidity.

"Well, I just bought one of these flats," he said pointing through the gate.

"Alright, that means I have to come get you, let you in the gate, take you to your flat, give you the codes and map to the gates , and be excited the entire time!" she said in a sudden monotone voice, sighing.

"Is it that horrible?" he asked, laughing a bit.

"No it's not, I've just done it a million times with all these being new," she said, signaling to the flats behind her.

"Oh well, just show me where my flat is and we'll do it all really quick," he responded, trying to make it easy on the poor girl.

"Alright," she said, her tone seemed to brighten.

"Ok, I'll wait here," he said.

"No need," she said as she walked over to another small box on the gate, punched in a code, closed the box, and the gate began to slowly open.

"Come on," she said, as she walked through the small opening.

He followed her through the gate. Once he got through, the gate started closing behind him.

She led him around a few buildings and up one set of stairs to a nice mahogany door.

"Here you are!" she said with a smile plastered on her face.

He grinned at her as she turned back to the door and unlocked the door. She swung it open and let him go in before her. Once inside, he found it to be already furnished and spotlessly clean.

"Wow," he said, looking around.

"Yep, just got cleaned this morning!" she said bouncingly.

"Hey, ya know you don't have to pretend to be excited around me, I understand your position. I used to have to do the same thing over and over again myself," he said, turning to her smiling.

"Oh god, thank you! Wait, what do you mean, used to?" she said, letting herself relax and the fake smile fall off her face.

"No problem, and how about we discuss that later. So, keys and codes?" he said signaling to a couch about 15 feet from them.

She nodded her head and grabbed the keys she used to open the door and grabbed a piece of paper out of her pocket, sitting on the couch.

"Ok so, making this quick," she said, flipping her long blonde hair over her shoulder, "here are your keys and the codes."

"Thank you," he said taking them and setting them on the coffee table.

"And these are your gates out of the property and if you understand this–'cause mind you, only a few people can–Apparition points are just to the right over every gate," she said slowly, but shocking Rhialight.

"Whoa, this is a…wizarding place?" he asked dramatically.

"Yep!" she said with a sarcastic tone.

"The realties told me it was Muggle!" he said.

"Do Muggles carry these?" she said, pulling a wand out of her bag.

"Ha, no!" he said smiling.

"Yep, that's what I thought. Anyways, you do have to be careful though, because there are some Muggles here," she said, getting serious.

"Alright, I'll watch myself," he said, as he whipped his wand out and set it on the side table as he went to take a shower.

She sighed as she fell onto the couch and clicked on the Muggle TV.

"You know, I'm really happy we bought some Muggle stuff in our house," said a red-headed man who fell onto the couch next to his wife-to-be.

He looked over and saw the sadness on her face. His brow frowned as he asked, "What's wrong, Mi?'

"You do realize that this is the three-year-anniversary since his disappearance," Hermione said quietly.

"Mi, you know that he's well…in a happier place now," he said quietly.

"No Ronald, he's not! I refuse to believe that Harry's dead!" she yelled as she stormed out of the house and Apparated to an Apparation point outside of a large black gate. She stormed to a hidden security house. She smashed the branch out of her way and slammed open the door. She saw the blonde napping in the far corner.

"Ugh, wake up sleepy head!" Hermione yelled as she walked over and shook her.

"Wha…What?" the blonde stammered.

"Wake up!" Hermione yelled again.

"Ok, ok I'm awake!" she said, jumping up and grabbing onto the counter to steady herself.

"Good lord, Amy! What are you sleeping during the day for?" Hermione asked.

"Oh, I'm just tired, but get this, I met the _hottest_ guy today!" she said, squealing.

"Oh, tell me!" Hermione said, trying to get her mind off Harry and Ron.

"Ok well, he's tall, gorgeous, dark black hair, muscular, and his eyes are omg!" Amy said in a dreamy voice.

Hermione's brow had furrowed, but was listening intently.

"Go on," she whispered, "What did his eyes look like?"

"Big orbs of a gorgeous green, almost emerald!" she said, falling back into her chair.

"Oh my gosh!" Hermione said, under her breath.

"Yep, he's adorable!" Amy said.

Just then there was a knock on the door followed by a deep voice saying, "Hello, can I come in?"

And before Hermione could ever move Amy yelled, "Come on in!"

Hermione got up and turned around to face the person coming in and once she saw him, she could have fainted.

"Oh my gosh," she said, staggering backwards, being caught by Amy.

"See! Isn't he so adorable?" she whispered in her ear.

""Oh my gosh," Hermione whispered again and moved to walk towards him.

As soon as he walked through the door, his heart leapt in his throat.

"_Oh my gosh, what is she doing here, and why does she look so paranoid? And what is she whispering?"_ he thought as he watched her regain herself.

"Oh my gosh, what…how…who are you?" she said about a foot away from him, pointing at him.

"Oh hi, I'm Rhialight, Rhialight Evans," he said, taking a step back and putting out his hand. "And you?"

"Oh, sorry Rhi, this is my friend Hermione Granger. She and I have known each other since she met me trying to buy one of these flats a few months ago, right before her dear Ronald proposed," Amy said.

"Nice to meet you Hermione, and congratulations on your engagement. But did you say Granger?" he asked.

"Uh, oh yes, I am," she said, shaking her head.

"Well, would you like to get lunch or something? I was just coming to ask Amy about a good restaurant," he said pointing to Amy.

"Uh ok, sure, that'd be nice. I need a bit of a break," she said, sighing and rolling her eyes.

"Great! Wonderful! So, what shall we go? You know any good restaurants?" he asked.

She nodded her head as they both said their goodbyes to Amy and walked out the door.

Hermione turned to him and asked, "Apparition or walk?"

"Let's Apparate, then talk at the table," he said, a serious expression on his face.

"Alright, I'll guide," she said grabbing his arm and pulling him along to a quiet Italian restaurant.

"Oh, nice," he said when the place came into focus.

"Yep, it's always nice and quiet here. You said you wanted to talk?" she said leading the way to the door.

They were taken to their table, and then were handed menus. They both took their seats and Hermione began looking through her menu.

"So, Hermione, I've got a few things I need to talk to you about. Things about Harry Potter," he said gently.

He noticed her freeze up, take a deep breath, then set down her menu.

"What about Harry?" she asked.

"You see, his mom and my dad…they were brother and sister. That's why my last name is Evans," he said quietly.

Hermione was shocked, again.

"_How does this keep happening? This man hasn't ceased to amaze me!" _she thought.

"You mean you're related to Harry?" she asked.

He nodded his head.

"You're related to Harry and you never once told him or saw him? He had no family except me and Ron and he felt so alone! You were there the entire time and you never told him!?" Hermione said, getting angry.

"Whoa, hold it, Hermione, that's not my fault," he said in defense.

"That whose fault is it?" she said crossing her arms.

"_Crap I should have thought about this. She isn't the smartest and brightest witch of our age for nothing,"_ he thought to himself.

"It's a long story. In short, his parents knew what was going to happen to them and him, they knew the whole family would die except for me and I was not to go near him until he was settled down after the war. That is exactly what I want to do," he said, explaining it all to Hermione before continuing, "Do you know where he is?"

"Rhi, he's dead," Hermione said, so calmly and quiet her voice was almost like death itself.

Rhialight didn't react at all like Hermione thought he would. Normally when told that a family member is dead, someone breaks down or cries or something; but they don't smile or chuckle or just shake your head. All of those are what Rhialight did.

"What are you smirking at?" Hermione snapped, completely confused.

"I'm not laughing at him, I'm laughing at myself. I convinced myself that that newspaper article years ago wasn't real. So I waited a while then came here, to prove to myself that the newspaper wasn't true. Apparently I was wrong," he said, the smile falling from his lips.

Luckily Hermione didn't notice the flash of a scar from under his hair.

"Oh, I'm so sorry Rhialight," Hermione said as she got up, walked around the table and wrapped her arms around Rhialight. But as soon as she made contact she felt as if a film was pushed into her head.

_Harry was walking out of the Hospital Wing to see Ron and Hermione above him smiling down at him. Then Harry, Ron, Ginny, and Lockhart were flying on Fawkes' tail feathers out of the Chamber of Secrets. Then it changed to Harry and Hermione watching Sirius escape on Buckbeak into the moon. Then to the "Golden Trio" standing on the ledge at Hogwarts, watching a boat sink into the lake and a carriage fly off into the sky. Then it changed again to the Room of Requirements teaching people to protect themselves. Then another scene was thrown at Hermione. She watched as she bawled on Ron's shoulder and Harry walked away from Ginny and she started crying. Then Harry and Hermione were alone in the tent right after Ron had left._

Hermione could feel the tears falling down her face as she slipped to the ground.

_Harry disappeared right after the battle and Ron and Hermione were searching everywhere for him. Two years later, Ron had an owl on his head and Harry came home finally and then it finally flashed back to the day that fateful article in the Daily Prophet. She saw herself during the many hours she spent in her room bawling her eyes out, sulking, and Ginny almost killing herself._

Hermione was curled into a ball on the ground, tears still falling madly from her eyes. Her eyes stung terribly from crying so hard. Rhialight stared down at her in complete shock.

_Now she was looking at the first year anniversary when she was alone with Ginny, when she told her it was definite that Harry was gone. Hermione was crushed. But the last scene she saw was a man walking around in a flat, organizing it, until he ran across a picture of three people in black robes smiling up at him. As he looked at it, tears swelled up in his eyes and the picture fell to the ground. The picture was of Ron, Hermione, and Harry during their fifth year when they were outside studying for their O.W.L's. _

Hermione kept crying even when the scenes stopped in her head. Rhialight got down on his knees and pulled her to his chest and wrapped his around her shoulders and Apparated them to an Apparation point outside his flat. Amy saw them, Apparated in and ran out to help him. They took her up to his flat and Amy flooed Ron and Ginny, who were there within seconds.

"Oh, Mi!" Ron said rushing over to the bawling Hermione, wrapping his arms around her trembling form.

"What, what happened?" Ginny said walking over to Ron and Hermione, where Amy was standing.

"I don't know, ask Rhi," she said pointing to a man standing in a shadowed corner.

Noticing the attention he head, he looked up and saw Amy pointing at him.

"Who are you?" Ginny said, looking at him with a frown.

He slowly walked into the light. "_Oh boy, here we go." _

As soon as he was completely in the light, Ron and Ginny gasped.

"Harry?" Ginny said so quietly you could barely hear her.

"Uhhh…" he said, running a nervous hand through his hair.

"Yes it's Harry, I know it is," Hermione said, finally speaking.

Harry sighed and shook his head revealing the scar on his forehead.

"But why? We all thought you were dead!" Ginny yelled.

"I did it because…" He sighed. "Because I couldn't stand to see you with Malfoy," he said, hanging his head.

"You did all this because of that arse?" Ron said, piping up.

"Mainly yes, but after thinking about it, I just didn't want to have…well…anything. I'm not the person I was before the war. I'm sorry, but I didn't want to have you put in danger," he said, trying to stand up a bit straighter.

"Mhmmm," Ginny said crossing her arms and cocking a hip to the side.

"Look Hermione, I don't know what happened to you at the…" he began.

"Why did you ask me those questions?" Hermione said, getting up and walking over to Harry til she was right in his face.

"I…I asked because I wanted to know if you believed that I was…dead," he confessed, wincing a bit at the last part.

"How could we not! There was no other person or anything to tell us otherwise! You weren't exactly around!" Ron started yelling.

"I wanted you to believe it," he admitted shamefully.

Hermione just took a step back and looked at Harry as if for the first time.

"You know, there was something about you that I felt I know, that's the only reason I went to lunch with you. But now that I think about it, I don't know what I felt because I don't know you," Hermione said, so cold that the words cut deep into Harry's heart and mind.

Ron and Ginny nodded in agreement.

"Guys wait," Harry said Disapparating and Apparating in front of the door. "Just let me explain."

They all stepped back a few steps and sat on the couch, their arms crossed.

"Look, pardon this, but this is what I mean," he said as he pulled off his shirt, pointing at the long white scars all over his chest and arms. He turned around and showed them a long white scar that stretched from his top left shoulder down to his right hip.

They all gasped.

"That's what I meant. I've been fighting off people ever since I left that…day," Harry said, his eyes darkening a bit.

He looked at their faces and saw Ron's mouth hanging open, Hermione was close to tears again, and Ginny was giving him that look she used to always give him. One of awe, amazement, love, and understanding.

"That's why I didn't want you to be around me. I was afraid I wouldn't be able to protect you. I know that you three have fought beside me countless times, but this is my fight now. I don't want you to have this same life," he said quietly.

"Harry…"Hermione said standing up.

"Mione, I can do this. There's only one person left and I'm not going to do anything for…reasons," he said.

"Who?" Ginny asked, standing up as well.

Harry muttered something under his breath.

"What?" Hermione said.

"Draco Malfoy," Harry repeated.

"Oh…ok great!" I've been waiting for someone to get revenge for me," Ginny said, grinning mischievously, but leaving Harry confused.

"Alright, someone care to explain what that means?" Harry asked.

"About a year and a half ago, Ginny called for a divorce because Draco was sleeping with other woman and still on the hunt for some wizard but Ginny, well none of us, knew it was you," Ron explained.

"Yeah, the only name I ever heard was Evans," Ginny added.

"Yep, that's me. The name I've been going by is Rhialight Evans," Harry said.

"Oh, that explains it," Ginny said.

"But wait, you got a divorce?" Harry said, his features seemed to lighten up a bit.

"Yep, and I really want to get back at Malfoy for everything he did," she said, getting angry.

"Ah back to the last name basis, eh?" Harry said chuckling.

Ginny looked at him and smiling devilishly, and yet innocent. "Yep."

"And coming from you that means, RUN!" Ron said laughing and causing everyone else to laugh.

"Ahh, it feels like we're back at Hogwarts," Ron said as Hermione came and sat next to him.

"Oh yeah, and by the way, when did you get engaged?" Harry asked.

"Two months after the divorce was finalized," Ron responded.

Harry sat between his best friends and put his arms around their shoulders and said, "Congrats, I'm happy for you two. And Ron…" He paused grinning, "It's about time!"

Ron smacked him on the shoulder, then replied, "Thanks mate, means a lot to me that you'll be here for the wedding. You gonna be the best man?"

"I'd be offended if you didn't ask, of course," Harry responded.

Ginny was sitting in the armchair, watching the happy scene, while thinking to herself, _ "It's great that Harry's back, but I still don't know why I'm not happy."_

"_Maybe it's because you haven't been genuinely happy in years," _a voice in her head said.

"_But why am I not happy? Harry's back, for crying out loud!" _she asked the voice.

"_Because you're not his," _it responded simply.

"You may kiss the bride," the priest declared.

Hermione and Ron smiled, then leaned in and kissed which was followed with claps and shouts. Also a whistle from the twins and a wolf howl from Harry. Ginny screamed and yelled at the top of her lungs.

The newlywed couple broke apart, blushing and smiling.

"Alright, now that our happy couple has had their dance, let's let all our other happy couples join them, and I mean couples!" Fred said as he and George were in charge of the D.J. system Hermione has got.

Ginny was standing by the punch bowl, alone, sipping on a drink. She was watching silently as numerous other couples began crowding the dance floor. Suddenly, someone tapped her on the shoulder.

Harry snuck up behind Ginny and tapped her shoulder. She jumped and spun around to face her "attacker".

Harry smiled. "May I have this dance?"

"But it's only for couples…" she responded.

He sighed, and then smiled again. "I'll ask again. May I have this dance?"

Ginny simply smiled and took his offered hand.

Harry led her to the dance floor and put his hands on her waist as she put hers on his shoulders. They moved with the rhythm. As the song went on, Ginny put her head on Harry's chest and tightened her grip around his neck.

Harry smiled and wrapped his arms around her waist. They danced and danced, through song after song.

Finally Ginny lifted her head, connecting her eyes with Harry's. Slowly Harry lowered his head to hers as Ginny got on her tiptoes. Slowly and gently, their lips met in a soft yet passionate kiss.

Harry melted at the feeling of Ginny's lips on his again, and as this happened, he couldn't help but think, _"Maybe this is what might have been."_


End file.
